THE PASSIVE VOICE

Active to passive.
1. The government is considering a plan to build a heliport near Westminster Cathedral.
2. The plan has worried a lot of people.
3. The local residents organized a number of meetings.
4. Local businesses are raising money to fight the scheme.
5. A million people visit the cathedral every year.
6. The vibrations from the helicopters might damage the cathedral windows.
7. In future, they wont bring letters to the houses and we shall have to collect them from the Post Office.
8. Someone turned on a light in the hall and opened the door.
9. Someone left this purse in a classroom yesterday. The cleaner found it.
10. They say he is quite an intelligent person.
11. They are demolishing the entire building.
12. Passengers shouldnt throw away their tickets as inspectors may check them during the journey.
13. Has someone picked up the mail yet?
14. I gave her two new books.
15. You must keep dogs on a leash while walking in the park.
16. When they have widened this street, the roar of traffic will keep resident awake all night.
17. They had taken down the FOR SALE notice, so I supposed they had sold the house.
18. They returned the keys to me; someone had picked them up in the street.
19. The milkman brings the milk to my door but the postman leaves the letters in the hall.
20. People steal things from supermarkets every day.
21. Someone stole twenty bottles of whisky from this supermarket last week.
22. Normally men sweep this street every day, but nobody swept it last week.
23. The postman clears this box three times a day. He last cleared it at 2:30
24. Women clean this office in the evening after the staff has left. They clean the upstairs offices between seven
and eight in the morning.
25. We never saw him in the dinning-room. A maid took all his meals up to him.
26. They havent stamped the letter.
27. They didnt pay me for the work. They expected me to do it for nothing.
28. He escaped when they were moving him from one prison to another.
29. She didnt introduce me to her mother.
30. A frightful crash woke me up at 4:00 in the morning.
31. The police shouldnt allow people to park here.
32. They are watching my house.
33. The examiner will read the passage three times.
34. Candidates may not use dictionaries.
Passive to active.
When crimes are committed by the so-called intelligent people, they never imagine that they will be suspected
by the police. They believe that if their plans are made with proper care, nothing can possibly go wrong. Their
downfall in fact is usually caused by their arrogance. Such a perfect crime has never been committed by
anyone else, they tell themselves, every detail has been thought of, others may make foolish mistakes, but
none will be made by me, I am too clever.

THE PASSIVE VOICE ANSWER KEY

Active to passive.
1. The government is considering a plan to build a heliport near Westminster Cathedral.
A plan to build a heliport near Westminster Cathedral is being considered by the government.
2. The plan has worried a lot of people.
A lot of people have been worried by the plan.
3. The local residents organized a number of meetings.
A number of meetings were organized by the local residents.
4. Local businesses are raising money to fight the scheme.
Money is being raised by local businesses to fight the scheme.
5. A million people visit the cathedral every year.
The cathedral is visited by a million people every year.
6. The vibrations from the helicopters might damage the cathedral windows.
The cathedral windows might be damaged by the vibrations from the helicopters.
7. In future, they wont bring letters to the houses and we shall have to collect them from the Post Office.
In future, letters wont be brought to the houses and they shall have to be collected from the P.O.
8. Someone turned on a light in the hall and opened the door.
A light was turned on in the hall and the door was opened.
9. Someone left this purse in a classroom yesterday. The cleaner found it.
This purse was left in a classroom yesterday. It was found by the cleaner.
10. They say he is quite an intelligent person.
It is said that he is quite an intelligent person.
He is said to be quite an intelligent person.
11. They are demolishing the entire building.
The entire building is being demolished.
12. Passengers shouldnt throw away their tickets as inspectors may check them during the journey.
Tickets shouldnt be thrown away as they may be checked by inspectors during the journey.
13. Has someone picked up the mail yet?
Has the mail been picked up yet?
14. I gave her two new books.
She was given two new books.
Two new books were given to her.
15. You must keep dogs on a leash while walking in the park.
Dogs must be kept on a leash while walking in the park.
16. When they have widened this street, the roar of traffic will keep resident awake all night.
When this street has been widened, residents will be kept awake all night by the roar of traffic.
17. They had taken down the FOR SALE notice, so I supposed they had sold the house.
The FOR SALE notice had been taken down, so I supposed the house had been sold.
18. They returned the keys to me; someone had picked them up in the street.
The keys were returned to me; they had been picked up in the street.
19. The milkman brings the milk to my door but the postman leaves the letters in the hall.
The milk is brought to my door but the letters are left in the hall.
20. People steal things from supermarkets every day.
Things are stolen from supermarkets every day.

21. Someone stole twenty bottles of whisky from this supermarket last week.
Twenty bottles of whisky were stolen from this supermarket last week.
22. Normally men sweep this street every day, but nobody swept it last week.
This street is normally swept every day, but it wasnt swept last week.
This box is cleared three times a day. It was last cleared at 2:30.
The postman clears this box three times a day. He last cleared it at 2:30.
23. Women clean this office in the evening after the staff has left. They clean the upstairs offices between seven
and eight in the morning.
This office is cleaned in the evening after the staff has left. The upstairs offices are cleaned between seven and
eight in the morning.
24. We never saw him in the dinning-room. A maid took all his meals up to him.
He was never seen in the dinning-room. All his meals were taken up to him.
25. They havent stamped the letter.
The letter hasnt been stamped.
26. They didnt pay me for the work. They expected me to do it for nothing.
I wasnt paid for the work. I was expected to do it for nothing.
27. He escaped when they were moving him from one prison to another.
He escaped when he was being moved from one prison to another.
28. She didnt introduce me to her mother.
I wasnt introduced to her mother.
Her mother wasnt introduced to me.
29. A frightful crash woke me up at 4:00 in the morning.
I was woken up by a frightful crash at 4:00 in the morning.
30. The police shouldnt allow people to park here.
People shouldnt be allowed to park here.
31. They are watching my house.
My house is being watched.
32. The examiner will read the passage three times.
The passage will be read by the examiner three times.
33. Candidates may not use dictionaries.
Dictionaries may not be used.
Passive to active.
When crimes are committed by the so-called intelligent people, they never imagine that they will be suspected
by the police. They believe that if their plans are made with proper care, nothing can possibly go wrong. Their
downfall in fact is usually caused by their arrogance. Such a perfect crime has never been committed by
anyone else, they tell themselves, every detail has been thought of, others may make foolish mistakes, but
none will be made by me, I am too clever.
When the so-called intelligent people commit crimes, they never imagine that the police will suspect them.
They believe that if they make their plans with proper care, nothing can possibly go wrong. In fact, their
arrogance usually causes their downfall. No one else has ever committed such a perfect crime, they tell
themselves. I have thought of every detail, others may make foolish mistakes, but I wont make any, I am too
clever.